Plan Tomorrow Tonight

Having a plan is a common strategy preceding any bout of success. Shooting from the hip isn’t a sustainable strategy for reaching the goals and levels you aspire to reach. Whether it means having a general plan for where you want to go or setting aside time to plan for the new year, planning is an avenue to get your journey started on the right path. Planning can, and should, be broken down into a more granular level. Instead of only planning your year or your future endeavor in its entirety, you can choose to plan your next day. That plan for tomorrow starts with taking time to plan today.

Planning tomorrow today is a habit that prepares you to start your next day on the ground running. Instead of waking up and wondering what items you should work to accomplish, you already have a tangible idea of your priorities. Instead of stumbling around and wasting time mapping out your day, it’s already laid out.

Planning tomorrow’s environment is a simple task that sets you up to turn to action immediately. If you plan to go running or work out, lay out your clothes and shoes the night before. That way, when you get out of bed you can immediately get dressed without having to fumble through your drawers. Sleep with a water bottle on your nightstand so you can wake up and immediately rehydrate your body after hours of sleep with no liquid intake. These simple actions require very minimal time and effort the night before but also kickstart your mornings. If you plan on waking up and immediately heading to a coffee shop to start work on a passion project, charge your devices overnight and make sure your keys are handy. These are simple actions of preparation that help remove obstacles to getting your day moving smoothly. Your tomorrow becomes easier when you plan for it today.

Planning tomorrow’s checklist of items to mark off is an introspective task that lets you reflect on the day that has already happened while setting your sights on the tomorrow that is yet to come. As you reflect on what you have done today, you can iterate and adapt your processes to make tomorrow a better version of today. By mapping out the items in your life you want to accomplish tomorrow, you can prioritize your list to ensure your focus is set on “slaying the dragon” first. “Slaying the dragon” means finding the most important item on your to-do list and conquering it. Your focus and energy will be the highest at the start of your day. When you already know what your “dragon” is, you can immediately get tomorrow started on the item of the highest importance.

Having a plan sets you up to have the direction for where your journey will take you. Instead of lacking direction, you will have a sense of where you need to go and what you need to do to reach your goals. Don’t wait for tomorrow to start your plan. Plan tomorrow tonight, so you can immediately get started when your eyes open in the morning.